Gunung Gua Rimau — My First Mountain

My first mountain hike, 12 August 2023. The plan was the Trans CBR in Kluang: Chemendong, Berlumut and Rimau in one day.

Ni Kane punya drama macam K-Drama. Kane keluar, saya pun mogok. Pfft

Ni dia!!! Sudah 3 hari ku makan ni kuay teow. Besok jgn tercicir. Pfft

12th August 2023, we proceeded to conquer the 3 gunungs; Chemendong, Berlumut and Rimau. Over in Kluang, its known as the Trans CBR.

0300 hrs - met guide who said that he barely had a wink. Semangat agaknya... ke nervous?? ke excited?? heh. Told him i had a couple of hours and hope that was enough.

Tumpanging his car to our meeting point at Berlumut car park was a wise decision as driving at that hour was completely dark and the roads were already unfamiliar. Reaching to Berlumut is not like going to Bukit Timah Hill. It will come to a point where rows and rows of kelapa sawit were left and right greeting us macam tangan terjuntai dari atas. Jangan pandang belakang atau atas... pfft Took video of the drive but alas…

0400 hrs - couple of cars already waiting at the gate. The rest of the troop already arrived. We packed our stuff and I found out I had the BIGGEST BAG!!! pfftt apa seh dorang taruk kat dalam??? cukup nak survive ke?? I mean i had 3 roti bean buns, 2 small water bottles, 1 1L bladder pouch and 2 protein bars. That too my kembara meals tak sampai in time. Then had powerbanks, ubat kalau selsema, semput..., poncho... apa lagi... minyak geliga, towel kecil...

Then we boarded lorry to the starting point...lorry kelapa sawit da... guide betul la cakap naik lorry. tak bohong. ingat bas air con pfft. The night sky was clear, could see the stars and crescent moon nicely over the horizon. There a couple of meteors streaking through the sky. Kepala kena tunduk sikit pasal tu daun kelapa sawit asyik sebat kepala da… Took photos of the sky and moon but alas…

0500 hrs - We arrived at the starting point. It was at foothill of Gunung Gua Rimau. After alighting the lorry, the pakcik drebar showed us tiger tracks. Darah beku sekejap. Took photos of the paw print but alas…

While tailing the group to cross over a deep ridge specifically made to halt elephants from crossing from the forest into the kelapa sawit farm, I heard two loud bangs. Anjat boboi. Apparently the guide threw mercun into the woods to chase whoever/whatever waiting... Ya Allah

Babak kedua...

After Gunung Gua Rimau which was about 1000-1030hrs, we made our way Gunung Berlumut. We went down quite fast and rested at the foot between the two mountains before heading up.

Think rested a tad too long that my inner thigh muscles contracted. Sakit da...Apa nak buat, push on aje. Me and guide were last as the rest, betul da experience and expert hilang di depan mata pfft.

At one point the guide called out to me asking for his mercun as i was carrying it for him. He said got something something following from behind. Aiseyman, naik da dugaan, kena kejar lagi. Ya Allah.

1200hrs - reached summit of Berlumut. There was another group but their trek was just Berlumut, which was from another route that is commonly used by trekkers.

We rested and discussed our next route. To Chemendong would entail an hour trek down to waterfall. This would be our waterpoint and do our prayers before another 2 hours steep climb. Then its 4 hours steep climb down.

So Berlumut was the one and only point to make a decision whether we wish to continue or fall out. I, along with another participant, made the decision to head down from Berlumut. I thot I might be holding back the group if I do continue and since we were on a compressed hike, any delay would delay the group's return to base.

After the group left, we napped on the bench for a bit. It would be 2-3 hours down we were told anyway and the group would hit base camp about 2100hrs based on schedule.

The climb down was ardous as well. Took a toll on the knees. It was 6km trek to the base. I would hear ruffling in the trees but jangan pandang tepi... pfft

We arrived at the foot of the mountain at about 1600hrs. People were swimming in the streams. All I had wanted to do was to dive in but the knee sudah goyang, menggeletar. Just then the sole of my hiking boots came off! Ya Allah. Alhamdulillah it had happened now and the thought what if I was still climbing and this happened crossed my mind.

Berehat sebentar, catch our breath and makan apa yang ada. This is important. Need to have solid food to replenish ourselves during the journey.

From my Facebook posts at the time.